Improvement in balloons



UNITED STATE-s PATENT einen.

JOSIAHl J. SHERMAN, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN BALLOONS.

To all ahem it mayogvwern.:

- Be it known that I, JosrAH J. SHERMAN, of the city of Albany, in the county of Albany and State ot' New York, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Balloons; andi'.V

do*y hereby declare that thefollowing is a full,- clear, andexact description ot' the same, reference being had tothel aocompanyin gdawings, Y forming part 'of -tliis specification, in which Figure l is a side'view ot' 'a balloon and car, and Flg. 2 .1s a central vertical section of the lalloon Withoutthe car on a larger scale than ig. l'.

, Similar letters of reference indicate corre! sponding parts in the two figures.

The objectof myinvention is to give to the aeron'ant in the carbeneath a' mechanical control over the volume of tlife. gas contained in the balloon, whereby he can increase or diminish its density vat pleasure, and thus be enabledto asoendor'des'cend in the air Withoutrthe expenditure of gasor ballastf For the above-stated purpose I make the balloon Aot a spherical or nearly spherical form, and pass verticallv 1 through'itscenter a. flexible tube a, which is, air-tight with' respect to the interior ot: theballoon, and` which isca'pable of"corrugation in such manner as' to contract lengthwise; and 'isi secured to the Vballoon at-.the top and bottom by air'ftight and gas-tight connections. lVithin this tube I arrange a system of pulleys and tackle, one block B of which is attached to the top and the other C is attached to the bottom of the balloon,.or to theropes b hor netting c. c surrounding it, and the fall d of which passes,

down to the car D, Where it is operated by hand, or fbya windlass, or' in anyof the modes adapted on shipboard.

`material if a netting is used, l preferto use it, and would recommend that the balloon be entirely surrounded with one, still usingv the cords or ropesfbrhand bands e e outside of it. To preventthe collapse of the tube @from the pressure of the gas surrounding it in the balloo.n,'1 employ to keep it distended either an internal spiral wire 7i (see Fig. 2) passing through itslength and secured at its top and bottom and such other points as may be necessary to keep it in place, or rings secured to the said tube at'properv distances.

, To prevent "in-jury to the balloon orto the tube a by abrasion" from the blocks B 0,1

surround eachofthe said blocks with a thimble f et metal, wood, or other suitable materialseeured to the tube, and this thimble may be niad'e to serve asav medium Vot oonnyection between the tube and the balloon, as represented in Fig. 2.

The injection and ejection cocks for iilling the balloon Withand discharging it of the gas may bey arranged Within the tube a or elsewhere, as may b'e-deemed most convenient.

To illustrate the operation of lmy invention,

let it be supposed that the top and bottom of the balloon have been brought toward each. other by drawing upon the fall d until its internal capacity is diminished to three-fourths, and thatwhen inflated totliis extent it will rise with the load in the Acar onefthousand feet, and there rest in equilibrium in the air. Now

it is obvious that any further compression ot .the balloon, however slight, which shall be caused byl drawing upon the fall d, will in.- crease the density of the contained gas, and thus lower its elevation ot equilibrium, and it Will descend immediately to that elevation, and 4that by a continued drawing upon the cord a continued descent Will ensue. On the other Hand, it is also obvious that it' instead of drawing upon the fall d the latter is let out, the compression of the balloon being diminished, it will expand, and its contained gas becomingmore raretied by expansion, its elevation of equilibrio will he higher, vand it will at once rise toit and will continue to rise if the aeronaut sowills, until the highest elevation of equilibrium, due to the full ascensive power ot'l the balloon, is reached.v

The number of pulleys employed in the 2 ames tube may be one or many according to the substantially as und for the purpose herein size of the balloon and the power it may be specified. f demble to exert upon the fall. y

Vhab I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- Witnesses:

The combination, with aballoon, of a pul- PAUL I. COOPER, ley or systemI of pulleys applied to operate WILLIAM LANSING;

.TOSIAH J. SHERMAN. 

